Teaching Philosophy

I am motivated to teach because I aspire to live and work with people who contribute to our community with discerning thought, integrity, and joie de vivre. To that end, three basic principles are embedded in my teaching: 1) developing creative, original and critical thinking skills through scientific inquiry and multi-modal application of information; 2) challenging students with high intellectual rigor; 3) facilitating students’ development of personal integrity.

Research Interests

My research program addresses the broad question of how hormones modulate behavior. I study clasping behavior by rough skin newts, Taricha granulosa, a locally abundant amphibian. In my lab, we use a variety of tools to ask questions about the fundamental principles by which hormones modulate the neurons that control behavior: electrophysiology, behavior, and imaging.